C.W. McCall, ‘Convoy’ Singer, Dead at 93

The voice behind the massive 1975 hit “Convoy” has died. C.W. McCall passed away on Friday at 93 after a cancer battle. McCall, real name Bill Fries, devised his persona as an Omaha advertising whiz in 1973 for a spot for Old Home Bread.

According to Deadline, the ad won a Clio and led to McCall breaking on his own as an “outlaw trucker.” On top of his success with “Convoy,” the singer also had hits from 1974 through 1978, including “Old Home Filler-Up an’ Keep On-a-Truckin’ Cafe,” “Wolf Creek Pass,” “Classified,” and “Roses for Mama.”

“I wanted to name the truck driver something that would be easily remembered. A lot of the truckers wore initials on their shirts,” McCall told Milwaukee’s Bob Barry, according to Rolling Stone. “We thought it was sort of a country-western sounding track, so that’s where the C.W. came from.”

“Convoy” was helped in its success with the CB radio craze at the time, while also tapping into controversies at the time. According to Rolling Stone, the 1973 gas shortage, high prices, long lines and the attempted adoption of a blanket 55 MPH speed limit on highways are played into turning “Convoy” into a protest song, and McCall’s “Rubber Duck” into a modern folk hero for those on the road.

The song also inspired a film from director Sam Peckinpah in 1978 with the same name as the song. McCall talked about the film a bit with the blog The Bigfoot Diaries, noting how the song was a massive hit and the movie was coming, but it lost its thunder due to another classic starring Burt Reynolds.

“Convoy’ changed my life drastically,” the singer said in 2011. “We did the five albums, and of course the Greatest Hits album. In 1978, a film company wanted to make a film called Convoy. We had to write new lyrics to the original song to fit the movie script… [But] Smokey and the Bandit came out before that and got all the attention as far as the CB radio thing.”

McCall’s final interview came in February with the Drew and Mike Show podcast. According to Taste of Country, McCall called in from hospice to reveal his cancer battle and to praise the song’s use by the Freedom Convoy in Canada. “I’m battling cancer. We have a deal here now where I can have nurses on-call at home. I don’t have to go to hospitals. It’s a hospice service here locally from Montrose, Colo,” McCall clarified about his situation. The outlet also noted he was “energized and enthusiastic” about “Convoy” returning to popular culture with the Freedom Convoy, though it seemed only due to the song making a return itself as opposed to the motives of the protest.

No matter, it is clear McCall made a mark on American culture at the time and helped capture a moment in time. Rest in peace to the outlaw trucker.